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Bring on the Nip

Bassa’s Begging Tips For Dogs

I hope you enjoyed my gardening tips for dogs and are now creating the garden of your dreams. In this post I want to share some tips about begging. I know what you are thinking – Bassa is only 8 months old what can she know? Well, 8 months is about 240 days and that seems like a lifetime of experience to me.

I want to start by re-defining begging. There is no such thing as begging. I call it sharing. However, we all know that the people in our homes do not always want to share what they have so we have to regularly remind them of the importance of sharing. It is our moral duty. If we don’t encourage sharing then the people in our homes, especially the small ones, might eat too much and become too big to play with us. So, sharing is a win-win situation but must be handled very carefully if you want to be successful.

The most important thing to remember is to always maintain your dignity. We are proud animals. We should never humble ourselves for a scrap of food (however tasty). These are my top 6 tips for becoming a successful sharer:

1. Try not to be in the kitchen when food is being cooked. The delicious smells will torment you and your dribbling will bother the cooking person. Keep your distance.

2. When the people in the house sit down to eat do not immediately jump at them in a frenzied attempt to get at the food. Maintain a respectable distance and sit quietly. This is tough but your dignified composure will impress them and encourage them to share. Try not to dribble! (I’m still trying to master that)

3. Try to maintain an air of indifference for as long as you can. This will frustrate the people who are eating and make them re-double their efforts to tempt you with some tasty treat.

4. Take food gently – it’s counter productive to eat someone’s hand. You are likely to be immediately expelled.

5. Savour the food. I know we all like to gulp it down quickly so we can make room for more but it’s better to fully experience the flavours and textures – we also won’t look like pigs!

6. Remember to say thank you. This is important. Don’t run off as soon as the food has gone. Stay and keep the people company. Entertain them. Make them laugh. By doing this you will find that you will become a regular and sought after dinner guest.

Bongo told me to add the “rescue-dog” item to your list: he takes place behind the seat of the youngest member of the family, to prevent the floor from food falling down, just to keep the carpet clean, of course, and to save the kid from trouble.